Improvement in apparatus for seasoning and preserving wood



W.T.PELT0N.

2 Sheets-Sheetl 2.

Improvement in" Appalratuefor4 Seasoning and Preserving-Wood;

Patented Feb. 27, 1872'.

l o e o a u n o u NITED STATES PATENT OEEIoE.

WILLIAM TILDEN PELTON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

Speciiication forming part of Letters Patent No. 124,080, dated February27, 1872.

To all whom'z't may concern:

Beit known that l, WILLIAM TILDEN PEL- ToN, of the State, county, andcity of New York, have made an invention, of which thefollowing is afull description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing and tothe letters of reference marked thereon.

My invention consists of .an apparatus and arrangement of machinerywhereby desiccating and antiseptic processes for seasoning wood andimpregnating wood and other suitable substances with preservativeelements, whether of hydrocarbons, oleaginous, saline, or othermaterials may be practically applied and rendered effectual andeconomical.

Number l in the accompanying drawing is a plan of the said apparatus andits various parts and adjuncts, and Number 2 is a side elevation of thesame.

Tl T2 represent two closed chambers or cylinders, in which the wood orother substance is treated. The most desirable dimensions, upon actualexperiment, Ilind to be eight feet for the diameter of each andforty-tive feetfor the length, and the most desirable material lightboiler-iron. These chambers or cylinders are provided with movable headsD', Fig. 3, the most desirable material for the same beingcast-iron, andare also provided with three domes, D D D, Figs. l and 2, closed at thetop and opening into the chambers or cylinders. R1 R2 are verticalreceiving and discharge tanks, of which the most desirable material islight boiler-iron, and the most desirable dimensions are seven feet forthe height and fifteen feet for the diameter. O is an ordinarycondenser, the 'most desirable dimensions of which I nd to be four feetfor the height and eleven feet for the length. S is an ordinary tank,which may be wood, and the most desirable dimensions of which are eightfeet for the diameter andl eight feet for the height, to receive thecondensed sap and other volatile parts escaping from the treating-chambers Tl T2. E is an engine for supplying the power to haul thetimber or other substance to be treated into proper position for working the pumps, &c., 85o. B is a boiler supplying steam to said engine, andwhen the process employed requires that the treating material be yheatedalso supplying steam to coils of pipe p p p laid .ing-chambers Tl T2.

in the treating-chambers to produce heat. P is a rotary pump for raisingthe impregnating material, ifa liquid, from the lower receivingtank R2to the upper discharging-tank R1. W is a tank to receive the water .fromthe condenser C and the condensed steam from the heating-coils p p pwhen employed in the treat- K is a steam-pump for supplying water to theboiler B, the condenser G, the pipes k k, &c. H is a drum, to which arope is attached to draw the timber or other substance to be treatedinto position, both in and out of the treating-chambers. r is the roperunning around sheaves o o c. There are other sheaves located at aconvenient distance in front of the chambers, around which the rope runswhen the truck is drawn out. m m is a rail-track. t is a truck .orcarriage on which the timber or other substance is hauled on said track.a a are pipes connecting the treating-chambers Tl T2 with the receivingand discharge-tanks R1 R2. The best material for these pipes iswrought-iron, and the best size six inches in diameter. b is a similarpipe connecting the treatingchambers or cylinders T1 T2 through theircentral domes where more than one is employed. c c are pipes to conveythe vaporized sap or other volatile products to the condenser C. c c arepipes composing the condensing-coil, and the best size is two inches indiameter. c c are pipes discharging the steam condensed in theheating-coils. f f is a pipe connecting the receiving-tank R2 with therotary-pump P. g g is a pipe connecting the rotary-pump withdischarge-tank R1. h isa pipe connecting the condenser C with the tankS. t' is a pipe conveying water from the steam-pump K to the condenser Cand through k k distributing jets of water over the treating-chambers T1T2. j is the overoW-pipe from the condenser C. k k are pipes perforatedalong the bottom for distributing water over the treating-chambers tocool them suddenly, when desired. l is a steam-pipe conveying steam tothe enginecylinder. L is a dome, from which steam is introduced atpleasure to the pipes p p p by means of the pipe cl d d.

Fig. No. 3 shows a front elevation of the treating-chambers or cylinderswith a slotted movable head, D', swung away from one of the chambersover the head-of the adjoinin g one. I? represents the face of a flangedring, with slots corresponding to those in the head, into which boltsare inserted to close the end of the cylinder hermetically. The bestmaterial for the flanged ring is cast-iron. S represents a carriage, towhich the heads or doors D are attached in turn by means of a tackle andswung by movement of the carriage away from and to the mouth of thetreating-chamber or cylinder. I

Fig. No. Il is a cross-section through the treating-chambers orcylinders and condenser in plane A A, showing the condensing-coil c c,the rail-track m m, the heating-pipes p p in the bottom of thetreatingchamber or cylinder, and the frame-work and foundationsupporting the treating-chambers or cylinders.

Fig. No. 5 represents a cross-section through the treating-oh ambers orcylinders at their central domes and an end view of the condenser in theplane B B. c c are pipes conveying the vaporized sap, &c., to thecondenser C. b b is the large pipe through which the material firstemployed iiows from one treating-chamber to the other when two are used.Each of the treating-chambers described with the connecting apparatuscan be employed whatever thetreating material used, and can beadvantageously employed, whether the desired treatment be by a cold bathor a hot bath, or by alternate baths of hoty and cold, or by bathsgradually chan gin g from hot to cold, or whether exposure to the air isdesirable at any stage of the process or otherwise. But it isparticularly applicableand your petitioner has by practical experimentnot been able to devise or discover any other apparatus by the use ofwhich wood can be seasoned and impregnatedwhere liquids are theseasoning and impregnating material, and where it is desired to firstapply them to thewood heated in a manner to expel the sap or othercontents of the pores of the wood, and then where impregnation of thewood is desired to produce a vacuum therein by means of bringing incontact with the wood-impregnating material of a lower degree of`temperature, which at the same time supplies itself to fill the pores ofthe wood without exposure to the air.

The mannerin which the apparatus described is employed in said processis evident from the description already given. The wood having beenloaded on the truck standing on the track m m, extended to any desirablepoint, is drawn by the rope r i attached to the drum H, which is workedby the engine E till it stands within the chamber T1, which is thenhermetically closed by the movable head D being swung across and boltedupon F. The treating material is then let into the chamber Tl by openingvalves 2 and 4t from the discharge-tank R1 and heat being applied bymeans of steam let into the pipes y) p, the material is heated to anydesirable extent, the volatile products passing over through the dome DD D and pipe c c to the condenser C, which is supplied with cold waterby the rotary-pump K through the pipe t', and whence the condensed oilor other materia-l is conducted to the tank S through the pipes 7L.During this heating process a second load of timber is drawn within thesecond chamber T2, its movable head bolted fast, and the discharge-tankR1 relled from the receiving-tank R2 by the rotary-pump l?. Valves 2 and4 are now reopened, and also valve l., whereby the cold materialentering the bottom of the chamber Tl displaces that already heated,which overflows into chamber T2 upon the timber already in position tobe treated, where the heat is kept up by steam-pipes in the bottom asbefore.

The timber in T1 having been subjected a sufficient time to the coldbath the remainder of the ixnpregnating material is drawn off into thereceiving-tank R2 by opening valves 2 and 5. The movable head D" is thenremoved and the timber drawn out fully'treated and anew load substitutedupon which the hot bath of the adjacent chamber overflows in turn. Whereit is desired to obtain wood seasoned and not impregnated the wood isremoved from T immediately after having been subjected to the hot bath.The manner of employing the apparatus described in other processes wouldvary slightly with the process.

The superiority of the apparatus invented by your petitioner, andalready described, becomes evident on actual trial. With an open tankfor the treating-vessel the escaping gases not only make it exceedinglydifficult to lemploy laborers in the vicinity of the tanks and tend tocreate a dangerous nuisance, but continually waste the materialemployed. The employment of the condenser as described both saves thematerial escaping as gas and prevents the danger of explosion by theconfinement of' the gases. The introduction of the cold fluid at thebottom instead of the top of the treating-chamber greatly aids theproduction of a vacuum by securing the immediate substitution of a coldbath for a hot bath where impregnation is desired, and whether or not acold bath is employed, the hot fluid displaced, overflowinginto theadjoining chamber, is there employed uncooled.

The movable heads, rail-tracks, truck, rope, and drum enable theoperator to introduce the wood to the treating-chamber with no 1abor orloss of time, and arranged in any desirable shape, and to remove it withthe same facility. The closed treatin g-chamber, with movable head anddomes, in connection with the receiving and discharge-tanks, the drum,rail-tracks, truck, rope, engine, pumps, condenser, and all oftheapparatus described, except the pipes for the connection of twotreating-chambers or cylinders, can be used as a separate apparatus; andby a further connection of pipes in a similar manner to to one describedany number of treatin g-chambers can be combined so that the hot bath,the cold bath, the drawing off the liquid, and the re- Y ropes andsheaves, for the purpose of applying l moval of the Wood can be goingAon simultaneously in different chambers with aminimum of treatingmaterial and of labor, of fuel, of time, and of expense.

Vhat I claim as my invention, and petition to have protected by LettersPatent, is-

l. The Whole combination of machinery and parts constituting theapparatus, substantially as described, a-nd for the purposes set forth.

2. The introduction, by the aid ofthe pipes a a or equivalent apparatus,of the impregnatin g material at the bottom of the treatingchamber Tinstead of at the top, for the purpose of an immediate substitution of acold bath for a hot bath While the material to be treated continuessubmerged 5 thus by one instrumentality, Without exposure to the air,producing a vacuum in the pores of the Wood and immediately furnishingthe cold preserving iiuid to iill the vacuum.

3. The combination of a closed chamber, wherein the treating` materialis brought in contact with the substance treated, with a condensercommnnicating with the closed chamber, whereby the volatile portions ofthe treating material are controlled and preserved.

4. The combination and arrangement described of the engine E, the drum Hwith the steam power to get the substance to be treatet Within thetreating-chamber.

5. The combination of the rail-tracks m m, the movable head D, the truckt, the engine E, the drum H, the rope c u or their equivalents, arrangedsubstantially as described,

whereby the substance to be treated is moved from point to point Withgreat facility.

6. The apparat-us described for removing and replacing the movablehead-to Wit: the rolling-carriage with detachable tackle s, incombination With the movable head D', and a chamber, T, for treatingpurposes, otherwise closed. 4

7. The combination of the movable head D and truck t, with the apparatusmentioned in claim fifth, for applying the steam-power.

8. The combination of two or more treatingchambers or cylinders,substantially described, and for the purposes set forth.

9. The domes D D D or equivalent apparatus, substantially as described,and for the purposes set forth.

W. T. PELTON.

Witnesses H. BRODHEAD, W. WARREN.

